Andrew Strauss needs a few runs

England's batsmen are scoring runs for fun. All except Andrew Strauss.

In his last 13 innings since the start of the Ashes, he's passed 50 once. In fact, he didn't pass it. He got a round 50 in the first innings in Melbourne.

Since that 50 his scores have been 31, 29, 24, 33, 24 and 15. These aren't the scores of an opening batsman being a victim of the new ball. These are the scores of a batsman not pushing on.

You've got to push on. If you're a batsman, this is the process in full: Play yourself in. Push on to 50. 'Convert' your 50 to a hundred. Get a 'big score' or a 'big hundred'. See it like a football.

We think you only 'see it like a football' once you've passed 150. Maybe it's after 158, which would explain KP's tendency to get out on that score.